Well, this is it. The final chapter! Before I get started, I want to personally thank everyone who's taken the time to review my story.

Miroku-has-darkness: "Awesome. Update soon." What can I say? You find a phrase that works for you and you stick with it. Seriously though, thanks for replying to every chapter. Just knowing that you've stayed with the story to the end is a great confidence booster. Merci!

AnimeLuv4evr: Glad you like my style of writing. I do my best to make my stories interesting and fun to read. Gracias!

Sk8erKittie888: One review's better than none. Nice to know you think the story's good. Domo!

LadyKagome84: Your enthusiasm really inspired me to keep going with my chapters and get them posted sooner. I'm afraid I don't know how to say thank you in any other language, but please except a small bow.

Brutal2003: Now there's something I like to see. A reviewer who's not afraid to ask questions. Keeps the writer on their toes. You'd get a hearty handshake, if that was at all possible. Thanks.

Rainbowraindeer: Thanks for your reviews and opinions. I get what you're saying about the story being a little fast. I'm afraid I never really was the patient type. You get a thumbs up and a smile.

DBZ Chick1: "Very good" Well, it was very good of you to review my story. Much appreciated.

Ashler: Good to see my story is still picking up new readers. Happy you've enjoyed it.

And last, but certainly not least, MarshmellowDragon: Your reviews are the most imaginative and funny ones I've ever read. You and that muse of yours should have your own show! Thanks for reviewing every one of my chapters. Big peace sign from me to you!

Okay, enough stalling it's time to hit the final chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 11

Snail stepped to the side so that he wasn't between Gohan and Goten and the other warriors. He cast a proud eye over the evolved saiyans.

"I must say, these two have turned out even better than I imagined they would." He said with a satisfied smirk. He then turned his attention to Earth's fighters. "Once I've evolved the rest of you, I will have control of a truly unstoppable force."

Steam suddenly shot from the small holes on the top of Buu's head. His fists were clenched and face was scrunched up in anger.

"Buu no listen to bad man!" He screamed. "Buu decides what Buu do!"

"That goes double for me" Said 18. One side of her mouth rose in a devilish smile. "I never was good at following orders."

"I can vouch for that." Krillin said with a grin. His face then turned serious as he eyed Snail. "And as for me, I'll never obey scum like you."

"You should've learnt from your father's mistake Snail." Said Piccolo, his face reflecting the same defiant nature of those around him. "The people of Earth are not ones to be pushed around."

He fell into a fighting stance, as did all the others, except for Gogeta.

He handed Trunks over to Bulma, putting his hand on her shoulder as he did so. Bulma looked up into his eyes and could've sworn, for a second that she saw both Goku, her good friend, and Vegeta, the man she loved, looking back at her. She smiled and gave a little nod as she took Trunks.

Gogeta then joined the others and fell into his own fighting stance.

"Don't hold anything back, you guys." He said. "This is as much for Gohan's and Goten's sakes as for ours."

Bulma held Trunks tightly as she watched.

'Do it, guys.' She thought to herself.

Dolt still looked as terrified as ever. Videl and Dende both had their fists clenched and their eyes locked on the fighters. And Mr. Popo had his hands clasped together, as if praying for help from a higher power.

Snail still had the same calm expression on his face as always. His antennae gave a little twitch and Gohan and Goten attacked.

Everyone braced themselves for the attack but, before reaching them, Gohan and Goten vanished. A split-second later, Piccolo cried out in pain. Gohan had karate chopped his leg, breaking the bone. As he crumpled down, Gohan kicked him in the ribs, cracking them and sending Piccolo rolling across the floor.

Before the others could make a move, Goten appeared behind 18 and hammered her in the back of the head. She went crashing, face-first, to the floor and skidded along a few feet before coming to a still stop.

The next scream of pain came from Krillin. Gohan punched him in the stomach so hard he went straight up into the air, only to land face down, hard on the floor.

Steam shooting from his head like a chimney, Buu ran at Gohan and Goten. Goten held both his hands up and a white beam of energy shot out of his palms, completely engulfing Buu. The beam exploded against the far wall and when the smoke cleared, Buu was lying battered and bruised on the floor.

Gogeta gaped at the speed with which the evolved saiyans moved. In about thirty seconds they'd completely pulverized his friends. Now, they turned their attention to him. As they disappeared from view, Gogeta instantly reached out with his senses. He managed to turn around, just in time, to block a kick from Goten. Upon blocking the blow, his arm instantly went numb! He was then knocked off his feet by a punch to the back from Gohan. As he fell forward, he managed to place his hands on the floor and flip himself back to his feet. Gohan came at him with a punch to the face. Gogeta just avoided it and planted his own fist right on Gohan's jaw.

The young saiyan didn't even flinch. As Gogeta stared in disbelief at Gohan's lack of reaction, he didn't notice his other fist moving until it was lodged in his gut. Keeling over, he then received an uppercut that sent him flying upward. Goten was waiting for him and, clasping his hands together, smashed him downwards again. In freefall, Gogeta forced his eyes open, and his entire vision was taken up by the toe of Gohan's boot.

Bulma and the others watched in horror as Gogeta sailed through the air, crashed into the wall and slumped to the floor. He lay still for a few seconds, then his body became covered in a bright light. When the light faded, Goku and Vegeta lay in his place.

Snail crossed his arms and raised an eye ridge critically.

"Well, I suppose he didn't do too badly, considering what he was up against." He then turned his attention to Bulma's group. "But I think it's time you all went back into your chambers. Except, of course, for you Dolt."

The alien cowered under Snail's calm stare.

"Yes. I think I'll deal with you right now." Snail's antennae twitched and Gohan and Goten began walking towards Dolt.

Suddenly, a high pitched sound rung out through the room. The smile on Snail's face disappeared and was replaced by a look of anguish. He put his hands over his ears and dropped to his knees. Gohan and Goten stopped in their tracks and stood motionless.

Dolt opened his eyes and looked around, first at Gohan and Goten, then at Snail, then at the source of the strange sound. It was Videl. She had two fingers in her mouth and was blowing hard.

'Of all the stories Gohan told me about he and his dad fighting off alien invaders,' The girl thought to herself. 'I always found the one about Slug to be the strangest. Who'd believe that someone so powerful could be brought to his knees by something as simple as a whistle?'

Snail was now screaming in agony, but he wasn't the only one. Videl noticed Dende was in pain as well and immediately ceased her whistling.

"No Videl, don't stop!" Dende cried out, sweat pouring down the side of his head. "As long as the pain's distracting him, he can't control Gohan and Goten!"

Videl could see that Dende was right. Gohan and Goten were still just standing there like statues. She didn't like the thought of hurting Dende, but this was their best chance to stop him. She just hoped that one of the fighters would come to soon and take advantage of this.

"Dende!" Despite the stinging in his ears, Dende could hear Piccolo call out to him. Mr. Popo helped him make his way to where the warrior was lying on the floor. Dende fell to his knees near Piccolo and was about to ask him what he wanted, when Piccolo's hands suddenly grabbed the tops of his ears.

"Sorry about this, Dende." Said Piccolo. He then gave the ears a mighty yank, ripping them right off of Dende's head!

Dende screamed and put his hands over his bleeding ear-stubs. Piccolo's telepathic voice came to him in his head.

'Dende, Gohan and Goten's minds aren't gone. I can still sense them, but Snail's put barriers around them. We have to break them down. I'll deal with Gohan. You help Goten.'

Dende then noticed that Piccolo had ripped his own ears off as well. Although his head still throbbed from losing the said appendages, he could no longer hear Videl's whistling and so his mind was clear to focus on his task.

Snail was pounding the floor in pain. Despite the muddle his mind was in, he tried desperately to gather his thoughts. He'd seen his father succumb to the Earthlings' attack on his sensitive ears and had trained himself to be ready for it. Gradually, he began to mentally tune out the excruciating sound.

Opening his eyes, he noticed Piccolo and Dende staring intently at Gohan and Goten. Their antennae pointing straight at them.

'Oh, no you don't!' Pushing himself to his feet, he pointed his own antennae towards his two saiyan captives – only to have them painfully yanked upwards!

"Yaargh!" Snail looked around to see who had done that, but could find no one. His antennae were then given another sharp tug. At this, he became aware of someone sitting on his shoulders. With a growl of frustration, he slammed the back of his head into the wall, causing the wind to be knocked out of his rider and for their camouflage to wear off.

Dolt tightened his grip on Snail's antennae and pulled again. The enraged Snail slammed him into the wall again, and again. Finally, Dolt lost his hold and fell to the floor. Snail grabbed him by the front of his armor and held him up in the air.

"That was a foolish mistake, Dolt." He held his hand out and ki began to form in his palm. He was about to incinerate his former accomplice, when a white beam of energy hit him dead on, causing him to drop Dolt and sending him flying to the other end of the room.

Gohan lowered his hand. His hair was still white, but his eyes had retained their normal black colour. The same went for Goten, who stood beside him. Behind them, Piccolo and Dende sat with smiles on their faces. It had been hard work breaking through Snail's mental barriers, but Dolt's diversion had broken Snail's concentration enough for them to get through.

Gohan looked around at everyone, including the ones lying on the floor unconscious. He shamefully cast his eyes downward.

"I'm sorry." He said.

"Oh, don't be such an idiot!" Said Bulma, as she walked up to him, still carrying Trunks. "We're just glad to have you both back!" She gave Goten a grin as she spoke.

"But, what about -" Goten pointed to the fallen fighters.

"Oh, they'll be fine!" Bulma said. "It's not like this is the first time they've gotten the stuffing knocked out of them! Once Dende's got his strength back, he can heal them up and they'll be good as new! Now let's get going."

A little smile came to Gohan's face and he went to help carry the others. He froze in his tracks as a sudden surge of power knocked everyone off their feet, except for him and Goten.

Snail was up again, and surrounded by a white aura. He had a malicious grin on his face.

"Oh, don't look so surprised." He said. "You think I'd possess the key to unlimited power and not use it on myself? My mental control is formidable enough so that I can have the strength without losing control of my mind. Now, I think it's time you witnessed the power of a true super namek!"

Snail bent his arms at the elbows and white energy started to form and grow in his palms.

Sensing the power that was gathering, Gohan called out to the others.

"Everyone, get back!" He then turned back to face Snail and cupped his hands by his side. "KAME…"

A white ball of energy appeared between his palms.

"HAME…"

"Oh, so that's how you want to play it!" Snail's grin widened. "Alright then, take this!"

He thrust his hands forward and a blinding white beam of energy raced towards Gohan.

"HA!" Gohan threw his own hands forward and a white kamehameha met Snail's beam, dead on.

The two waves of energy pushed violently against each other. For now, they were evenly matched.

"Such… energy…" Gohan gritted his teeth as he concentrated on his beam.

"Yes. You might need to power up some more to beat this." Snail called out tauntingly. He then increased his own energy output, causing his beam to start pushing Gohan's back. Gohan let out a yell as his power level spiked up and the beams became even again. The shock wave caused by his power up sent everyone else skidding across the floor, to the other side of the room.

"Oh, careful!" Snail said. "You know what'll happen to your friends if you increase your energy too much!"

A look of dismay came to Gohan's face. Snail was right. If he didn't watch his power level, everyone would be incinerated by the pure energy he was giving off. But there was nothing forcing Snail to hold back his full power. He could just keep increasing it until either Gohan released his full power, hopefully killing Snail but definitely killing everyone else, or his beam overcame Gohan's, killing him and all of his friends. The situation looked hopeless.

Goten was the only one still able to stand, due to the awesome amount of energy being given off by Gohan and Snail. He wanted to help Gohan, but was worried that if he fired his own kamehameha, the power generated would be more than the others could stand. Goten turned and looked at his friends, especially the unconscious forms of Goku and Trunks. His father and best friend were hurt. And he was the one who'd hurt them.

He turned his eyes back to Snail. He was standing right in front of the open doorway to the ameron chamber. Goten could see the white crystal behind him, pulsating with power.

Goten's fists clenched and his eyes narrowed. Snail had hurt his father and friends, and he and Gohan had been his weapons of choice. Letting out a cry of rage, Goten ran towards the evil namek, right alongside the destructive energy waves Snail and Gohan were releasing. Launching himself into the air, he began spinning until all that could be seen of him was a white spiral of energy.

Snail was so intent on Gohan that he didn't notice Goten coming at him until he heard him scream,

"TORNADO CHARGE!"

Turning his head to the source of the sound, Snail was struck in the midsection by the spinning Goten. The small cyclone of power bore right through his armor, his skin, his muscle, his bone and his spinal cord, coming out of his back and sending the namek flying.

As Snail fell back, a single image flashed through his head. It was one of the images the video connection to his father's ship had shown before going dead. The image was of his father being run through by a charged-up Goku, boring into him like a drill.

'Heh heh, irony.' Snail thought with a small smile on his face. 'You have to love it.'

Goten and Snail both went flying into the ameron chamber, followed by Gohan's kamehameha which he was unable to stop. The result was a deafening explosion which caused the whole ship to shake.

"Goten!" Gohan ran over to the remains of the chamber and began moving aside the broken materials searching for his brother. He found him under a particularly large slab. He was badly cut up, but still alive. The cyclone he'd created around himself had protected him from the worst of the explosion. Gohan noticed his hair was black again. He must've used up all the power the ameron crystals had given him. Gohan's own hair was still white.

He heard footsteps behind him and turned to see Videl approaching.

"Is he alright?" She asked, looking down at Goten.

"Don't worry. He'll be fine." Gohan picked him up and started walking back to the others. "Who's still conscious?" He asked half jokingly.

"What?" Asked Dende. He'd never had to regenerate a part of his body before, so he hadn't yet regrown his ears.

"We're all fine." Said Bulma. "Now, how are we gonna get everyone back to the ship?"

"I can take care of that." Said Mr. Popo. He reached into his pocket and took out a small rolled-up ball of red material. He threw it to the ground, at the same time calling out,

"Magic Carpet!"

The ball unrolled into a wide rectangle, hovering a few feet above the floor. All the unconscious fighters were placed upon it, with Piccolo sitting on the end. Gohan carried Buu on his back because there wasn't enough room for him on the carpet.

They got back to the Capsule ship, when suddenly the Revival began shuddering violently! The sounds of small explosions could be heard.

"Now what?" Said Piccolo, whose ears had just grown back.

"Oh, no! The ameron crystals are rupturing!" Said Dolt. "When you destroyed the ones in the chamber, you set off all the others they were connected to, around the ship!"

"How many others?" Bulma asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Um, about a million, I think."

"A million!" Everyone echoed.

"I think." Dolt repeated.

"We better get out of here, then!" Said Videl.

"No, wait!" Said Gohan. "Dolt, which way is the bridge?"

"What? Why do want to -?"

"Which way?" Gohan asked more sternly.

"Through that door, down the corridor and up the shaft to your left." Dolt pointed the way. Gohan immediately took off at a run.

"Gohan, what are you doing!" Videl called after him, but he was gone.

Following Dolt's directions, Gohan came to the bridge. In front of him was a screen showing Earth below them. Gohan prayed that it was just his imagination telling him that the planet in the screen was getting bigger. He started tapping at the controls, most of it being guesswork due to the alien language, but soon he found what he was looking for.

"Gohan, what's going on?" Videl appeared in the doorway.

"Videl, get back to the ship and tell Bulma to take off." Gohan answered. "Tell her to get as far away from this ship as she can."

"What about you? What are you going to do?" Videl asked.

Gohan pointed to the screens on the control board he'd been looking at.

"This ship's falling out of its' orbit. It's going to crash into the Earth, and not all of the ameron crystals will have been destroyed by the time it gets there. By my calculations, the resulting explosion from the other crystals will destroy everything within a 500-mile radius of where it lands."

"Oh my god! Are you sure?"

"It's physics. I'm always sure." Gohan replied. "Our attacks have done almost no damage to the ships' interior, so there's only one chance for me to destroy it before it hits Earth. But I need you and everyone else as far away as possible."

"Gohan, what are you going to do?" Videl asked firmly. But when she looked into Gohan's eyes, she already knew the answer. "Gohan, no! That's suicide! You're not even sure it will work!"

"Videl, I have to try. Even if the ship lands in the ocean, the explosion will cause huge tidal waves. And what if it lands near a city? Like West Satan City. Think of the people there. Think about your father."

Gohan hated seeing the pain in Videl's eyes. He gently placed a hand on her shoulder, not sure what else to say. Suddenly Videl reached up, grabbed his head and pulled him down into a kiss!

"Hmmm?" Gohan's eyes widened and his arms flailed briefly. Videl pulled away from him and looked him in the eye.

"You're coming back." It wasn't a request. "One way or another, Son Gohan, you're coming back."

Gohan was still dumbfounded, so was only able to answer weakly,

"Okay."

Bulma sat at the ships' controls, drumming her fingers impatiently. All the others were strapped in to their seats. Dolt was looking out through one of the ships' windows.

"Hey, here comes Videl!"

The girl ran up the ramp and pressed the button to close the hatch behind her.

"We have to take off!" She said.

"But what about Gohan?" Said Bulma.

"He's staying. The ship's going to crash into the Earth, so he's staying behind to destroy it."

"But how will he get away?" Dende had regenerated his ears so he'd heard what Videl had said. "Let me heal everyone, and they can all fire their attacks inside the ship before we take off."

"It won't do any good." Said Piccolo, sadly. "During the fight in the hangar, plenty of energy attacks hit the walls but didn't even leave a scratch."

He cast his eyes downward.

"Gohan's the only one with a chance to destroy this thing."

Everyone sat in silence for a moment. Bulma was the first to pull herself together and start up the ship.

"Well then, we better get going so we can give him that chance."

Gohan felt the others' ki leaving the ship. He waited until they were a good distance away before he started. It had been over a year and a half since he'd last done this but the sensation was still familiar. He shut his eyes and brought up the mental images of his family and friends. The images were of them suffering.

He saw Piccolo sacrifice himself to protect him from Nappa's blast. He saw Dende, Vegeta and Krillin die at the hands of Frieza. He saw his mother and friends possessed by the black-water mist, released by Garlic Jnr. He saw his father give his life to save the Earth from Cell. He saw Videl get beaten, almost to death, by Spoppovich. He saw Gotenks get absorbed by the evil Buu. And he saw himself standing there, at every one of those events, unable to do a thing to stop them.

But the worst, by far, was what had happened just previously. He had allowed Snail to manipulate his mind, to take control of his body and had inflicted pain and fear upon those he cared about the most.

Gohan's eyes snapped open, his pupils were now a shining green. His white hair stood up in spikes and a golden aura surrounded his body. His love for his family and friends combined with his anger at their suffering exploded in an outburst of power. He screamed out loud as the room around him shook and began to collapse inward.

From the capsule ship, everyone watched the Revivals' destruction. It started with small explosions all around its' hull. The ship then appeared to shrink as it crumbled in on itself. It finished with a blinding explosion that caused everyone to turn away and cover their eyes. When they looked back, all that was left were chunks of debris that began to burn up as they fell through Earths' atmosphere.

"Gohan…" Piccolo had his eyes tightly shut and his fists clenched. He then became aware of a groaning right next to him. Goku was moving about and mumbling in his sleep. Suddenly, the saiyans' eyes opened and he cried out,

"Gohan!"

Unbuckling himself, Goku got out of his seat and ran to the nearest window. He looked out at the remains of the Revival.

"Oh, Goku." Bulma had tears running down her face. "I'm so sor - Goku! What the hell are you doing!"

Goku put his fingers to his forehead and disappeared before everyone's startled eyes.

The second Goku rematerialized, he was struck by the numbing coldness of space. His breath caught in his throat and his chest was immediately struck by sharp pains. Forcing himself to forget this, he scanned the surrounding area for the dying energy that had woken him up. Finally, he found it.

Gohan was floating just ahead of him. His hair was black again and his blood hung suspended in the vacuum around him. Goku used his ki to propel himself towards Gohan. Grabbing his boy and holding him tightly, he put his shaking fingers to his forehead again.

Everyone turned around to see Goku collapse to the floor, with Gohan in his arms.

"Oh my god, Gohan!" Videl ran to his side, followed closely by Dende. The young namek placed his hands on his friend and light shone out of his palms. All the wounds on Gohan's body closed up and the burn marks disappeared. With a gasp, Gohan opened his eyes. He pushed himself up on his knees, and gasped again as Videl threw her arms around his neck.

"What happened?" He asked. "How did I -" But the second he heard his father groan, he knew the answer to his question.

Goku sat up with his hand on his forehead. He looked at Gohan and smiled wryly.

"Always have to be the hero, don't ya son?"

Gohan grinned.

"Right back at ya, Dad."

Dende set about healing everyone else, while Bulma returned to the pilots' seat.

"Well, now that everyone's present and accounted for, let's get back to Earth. I don't suppose any of you want to stay and finish our little party?"

"That depends." Said Goku. "Is there any food left?"

"Um, excuse me?" Dolt raised a hand nervously. "I know this is a lot to ask, and you probably don't want to do me any favors, but do you have any spare spaceships you're not using? Now that Snail's gone, I would really like to get back to my home planet."

"You don't need a spaceship." Said Goku, cheerfully. "I can get you there."

Dolt looked at him in surprise.

"You know where Rigel II is?"

"No, but I know someone who's bound to." Goku gave a little grin. "You could say, I've got friends in high places."

(Scene change)

It was dawn, the next day and the Nimbus cloud was jetting through the air, bearing two passengers. Gohan had managed to rescue Videl from her fathers' arms and was now taking her back to their university. While they were riding, Videl looked up at Gohan, watching his hair blowing in the wind.

"Y'know, I'm glad the effect those crystals had on you wasn't permanent." She said. "The white hair really didn't suit you."

Gohan looked back at her and a mischievous grin came to his face.

"Okay Nimbus, this is far enough."

The cloud came to a stop and Gohan jumped off, hovering in the air, in front of it.

"What are you doing?" Videl asked.

"Well, before his transporter got us, Snail told me and Goten that he'd discovered a way to change how people were able to control their ki. Turns out, he wasn't lying. Those crystals didn't just give me a temporary power boost."

Gohan's smile broadened, but then his face turned serious as he gave out a yell. His hair stood straight up and turned gold, his eyes went from black to green and the golden aura of a super saiyan sprung up around his body.

Videl could only stare, wide-eyed, at Gohan. His smile returned and he reached out his arms to her.

"Now, about that ride."

Videl grinned and let Gohan pick her up. An aura surrounded the both of them as Gohan sped off towards the horizon.

The End.

Phew! It's finished! Once again, a huge thanks to everyone who's reviewed this story. Knowing you've enjoyed has made it all the more fun to write. I really can't thank you enough.

My next story will be a Final Fantasy one, so if you're a FF6 fan, be sure to watch out for it. Until then, Sayonara!

Saiyanx

xxx